ST. GEORGE: Grenada’s Minister for Climate Resilience, the Environment and Renewable Energy, Hon Minister Kerryne James was identified as one of the youngest Ministers to attend the 6th United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA 6), the United Nations highest decision-making body to address global environmental issues hosted by the UN Environment Programme in Nairobi, Kenya. Honourable Kerryne James was also one of just a handful of Small Island high-level decision makers to advance key messages to address the Assembly’s theme, “Effective, inclusive, and sustainable multilateral actions to tackle climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution.”

UNEA 6 convened from February 26 to March 1, 2024, and focused on advancing new global resolutions and innovations to enhance action that addresses the triple planetary crisis of climate change, nature and biodiversity loss and pollution. For the first time, the UNEA Committee, headed by its President and the Minister for Energy Transition and Sustainable Development of Morocco, Ms. Leila Benali and supported by UNEP Executive Director, Ms. Inger Anderson, convened two high-level plenaries which addressed four critical themes: cooperation across global multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs), the role of science, data and digitalisation to advance sustainable development, leveraging the global financial system to deliver on nature loss and pollution, and assessing the pace of environmental multilateralism in delivering global targets.

The UNEA 6 Conference afforded Grenada the opportunity to advance its presence within multilateral platforms on key environmental issues, including highlighting the need to deliver technical assistance, technology transfer and financial resources to rapidly progress the country’s work on climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution. Honourable James cemented Grenada’s leadership on environmental matters by participating in several high-level dialogues.

• Honourable James, as one of just two small island leaders, made remarks at a Ministerial meeting on the 4th session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee to End Global Plastics Pollution (INC-4) hosted by the Government of Canada, host of INC-4, calling for the finance mechanism of the INC Treaty to deliver adequate, predictable, consistent, and urgent financing to small islands to end plastic pollution.
• Hon. James also made remarks at a high-level event hosted by the Secretariat of the High Ambition Coalition for Nature and People (HAC) of which Grenada is a member, where she spoke to the importance of leveraging the indigenous knowledge and expertise of community groups, youth and women in the work of environmental protection and preservation.
• Hon. James as one of three invited SIDS Ministers, highlighted Grenada’s commitment to transitioning to renewable energy, including phasing in electric cars and leveraging solar energy. This was done at a special roundtable hosted by the Minister for Environment and Climate Change of Canada, Hon, Steven Guilbeault.

Grenada also participated in meetings of the Group of Latin American and Caribbean countries (GRULAC) to UNEA 6 which is currently chaired by the Government of Barbados.

On February 29th, 2024, Minister James addressed the UNEA 6 Committee attended by over 170 ministers and 7000 delegates and participants. In her national statement, Hon. James emphasized the need for strong multilateralism in unlocking global solutions to the triple planetary crisis, sharing, “As a signal of our strong commitment to implementing effective, inclusive, and sustainable multilateral actions to tackle climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution action, Grenada proposes to advance a resolution specifically tailored to SIDS at UNEA 7. This will empower UN Environment Programme to take a leading role in helping us move beyond the pledges and declarations captured within the SIDS 4th outcome document.”

The Minister spoke to the importance of delivering financing to SIDS considering our special and unique vulnerabilities and circumstances.

“We call for support in building national capacities, for greater access to grant financing and implementing key environmental agreements. We have fought to remind everyone that for our nations, having the right access to resources is significantly critical to tackle the burgeoning impacts of climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution. For SIDS who have been long recognised as the most vulnerable, access to new and additional financing, using easily accessible financing mechanisms, that are sensitive to our needs and capacities as Small Island Developing States is the most important ingredient.”

Finally, the Minister stressed the importance of finding solutions to end global plastic pollution. “The solution to ending plastic pollution demands that we adhere to the strength of an effective multilateral process, and that we do not ignore the voices of those vulnerable nations, like Grenada, that continuously remind the world that enough is enough. UNEA resolution 5/14 adopted here within this assembly of nations made our intention to end global plastic pollution very clear. I urge you to remember the important work we’ve already started at UNEA, and adhere to our joint global commitment to build consensus toward delivering a historic and significant Plastics Treaty that solves the problem.”

Grenada’s delegation comprised:

– Minister James
– Ms. Safiya Sawney (special advisor and focal point on plastic pollution) who advanced meetings with the UNEP INC Secretariat, UN-CEP, Campaign for Nature, the World Bank, and others, to identify opportunities for collaboration, strategic partnership and financing; and,
– Dr. Trevor Noël (a representative of Grenada’s academia, and deputy director of The Windward Islands Research and Education Foundation (WINDREF) which is housed at the SGU and has delivered 35 programs over 30 years targeting environmental issues).

The Government of Grenada left UNEA 6 positive that the Country’s involvement in this international platform for environmental matters will advance its progress on combatting climate change, improving its environment, health and assets, and delivering tangible and long-term solutions to address pollution, particularly plastic pollution.